Russia claims it has captured two villages in eastern Ukraine where its forces have been steadily advancing for months, as Ukraine’s president urged allies to deliver all the weapons they have promised to send to Kyiv.The Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday that soldiers have captured the village of Yantarne in the eastern Donetsk region, about 10km (six miles) southwest of Kurakhove, a key logistics hub that Moscow claimed to have seized last week – a day after Russia’s army said it had also taken new territory northwest of Kurakhove.
The Defence Ministry added that soldiers had also captured the village of Kalinove in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
The village is on the western bank of the Oskil River, which for a long time formed the front line between the two armies in the region.
A Ukrainian official, quoted by the AFP news agency, said on Thursday that Russian forces had managed to establish a bridgehead on the western bank after crossing the river.
Russia’s army has spent months making attempts to cross the river, which also cuts through Kupiansk, a city recaptured by Ukraine in its 2022 counteroffensive. Advertisement
Separately, the Russian Defence Ministry said that over the past 24 hours, Russia’s forces have carried out strikes on Ukrainian military airfields, personnel and vehicles in 139 locations using the ai …
